Electric line switch



Oct. 6, 1959- 'L. w. HEDGES ELECTRIC LINE SWITCH Filed Nov. 7, 1955Leonard W. Hedges INVENTOR.

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United States Patent ELECTRIC LINE SWITCH Leonard W. Hedges, Napa,Calif., assignor of twentyfive percent to Evelyn Jewell, Napa, Cali.

Application November 7, 1955, Serial No. 545,147

2 Claims. (Cl. 200-168) This invention relates to an improved electricaladapter and particularly to a remotely controlled line switcharrangement.

Although there are many appliances and appliance combinations as well aslamps and instruments which may be controlled by the herein describedassembly, one of the more diflicult and exasperating problems in homemovie projection is intended to be overcome by utilizing this assembly.Almost invariably it happens that a person operating a home movieprojector has someone turning the light on and off and in doing so thereis usually stumbling in the dark over furniture or other objects.Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an electricalline cord assembly wherein there is a plug having combined with it areceptacle adapted to receive the plug of a lamp or other light source,together with a control box which has a switch in it, this control boxbeing operatively connected with the plug by electrical conductors andarranged to control the energization of the receptacle in the plug by aswitch that is carried by the control box.

A further object of the invention is to provide an assembly as describedabove which has an auxiliary electrical outlet in the control box, thisoutlet being wired by the electrical conductors which pass from thecombined plug and receptacle to the control box. In this way the movieprojector operator may carry the control box with him to the site of theprojector and operate the switch so as to control the energization ofthe lamp as he sees fit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control box especially,but not exclusively useful as described above, this control box havingimproved means of mounting a switch or receptacle whereby no fastenersof any kind are directly connected to the switch or receptacle, theholding action for the switch and/ or receptacle taking place entirelyby a cover plate which contacts one surface of the switch and/orreceptacle, the latter being seated in a pocket formed in the controlbox.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of the control box with a switchbeing shown in elevation;

Figure 3 is a side view of the combined plug and receptacle constitutinga part of the invention;

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the plug of Figure 3, the wiring for theplug contacts being shown in place; and

Figure 5 is a schematic wiring diagram of the assembly.

The assembly consists of a line cord 12 having at one end a control box14 and at the other end a combined plug and receptacle 16. Control box14 comprises a casing having front wall 17, rear wall 18, side walls 19and 20, together with a bottom 21. The top of the casing is open and acover plate 22 is secured thereover by screws 24 and 25 which areaccepted by tapped openings in the walls 19 and 20. The line 12 ispassed through an opening in one of the walls of the casing and is wiredto the switch 28 and receptacle 30. The switch 28 and receptacle 30 aremounted in the same way in the control box. They are so arranged thatthey need no fasteners connected directly to them. For example, theswitch 28 is disposed in a pocket 34 formed at the top of a support 36which rises from the bottom 21 of the casing. Pocket 34 is sodimensioned that it retains snugly the switch 28. The upper part of theswitch 28 is held in place by the cover 22 by fitting in a recess 40 inthe lower surface of cover plate 22. An aperture 42 in the center ofthis recess 40 forms a passage through which the switch operator ispassed. Therefore, in assembly the switch 28 is rested in its pocket 34and the receptacle 30 is similarly arranged in a pocket in the casing.Then cover 22 is fastened to the casing with the upper part ofreceptacle 30 passing through an aperture in the cover and the switchoperator passing through aperture 42.

The combined plug and receptacle 16 comprises a body 50 having a lineinlet sleeve 52 through which the bore 54 passes. This bore accommodatesthe line 12 so that the three conductors in it may attach respectivelyto the terminals 56, 58 and 60. Terminal 56 is a screw either retainingor helping to retain the contact plate 62 in place within a recess inthe body 59. Prong 64 extends from one end of the plate 62, while theother end of the plate serves as a contact against which an appliance,lamp or other plug prong is adapted to be disposed when it is insertedin slot 66. Slot 68 which, with slot 66 forms the pair of slots for thereceptacle portion of the combined receptacle and plug 16, has contactplate 70 in registry with it, the latter being held in place by means ofthe terminal 58 which in this instance, is a screw. The terminal 60 isalso a screw holding conductive plate 72 in place within the body 50,there being prong 74 integrally fixed with it and coacting with prong 64in order to be inserted in a standard wall outlet.

The line 12 which interconnects control box 14 and combined outlet andreceptacle 16, has three conductors 80, 82 and 84 in it. The conductorextends from plate 62 which has prong 64 and which has provision forbeing connected with an external plug. The conductor 80 extends to oneside of the receptacle 30 as well as to one side of the receptacle inthe combined receptacle and plug 16. The second conductor 82 extendsfrom the terminal 60, the latter being connected for electricalconduction with the prong 74. Conductor 82 is secured to one terminal ofthe switch 28. Finally, conductor 84 is secured to terminal 58 that isconnected with contact plate 70 in alignment with slot 68. Conductor 84extends from the terminal 58 to the opposite sides respectively of theswitch 28 and the receptacle 30.

In use, the prongs 64 and 74 are inserted in a receptacle which servesas the source of electrical energy. A lamp or other device such as anappliance of one type or another is plugged into the slots 66 and 68.Then, the receptacle 30 may be used, but this is independent of theoperation of the remainder of the assembly. By closing the switch 28 theappliance which is plugged in slots 66 and 68 is energized. By openingthe switch 28 the circuit including that appliance, lamp or other deviceis opened. Meanwhile the receptacle 30 continues to conduct.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous a modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention electrically operative device, a control box including acasing, a switch having a body mounted in said casing, a support in saidcasing and having an upwardly opening pocket therein, said, switch bodybeing disposed in said pocket, a switch plate secured to said casing andabutting said body to hold said switch in said pocket without havingfasteners connected directly to said 15 switch.

2. The remote control line assembly for an external electricallyoperated device of claim 1 wherein there is a receptacle having areceptacle body located adjacent to said switch body and disposed insaid pocket, said switch plate having an opening for access to saidreceptacle, and said switch plate abutting said receptacle body to holdsaid receptacle in said pocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS VNicholas Feb. 28, 1939

